


Broken Ice and Broken Hearts

by Synthetic_Miracle



Series: Frozen Apart [2]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: (hinted character rebirth), Callum & Ezran & Rayla - Freeform, Ezran & Rayla, Ezran is devastated, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt No Comfort, Rayla feels guilty, Rise of the Guardians inspired AU of S1 E6 "Through the Ice", and is heartbroken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-25 17:50:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16665433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synthetic_Miracle/pseuds/Synthetic_Miracle
Summary: Callum fell through the ice, and he's not coming back up.(But... he was just there, he was alive and with them a few minutes ago, how could he be gone, just like that?)





	Broken Ice and Broken Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> What's gonna be left of the world if you're not in it?  
> What's gonna be left of the world, oh  
> Every minute and every hour  
> I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more  
> Every stumble and each misfire  
> I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more  
> -Bastille (Good Grief)

After watching Callum fall down into the ice, Ezran tried to jump in after, desperate to help him, but Rayla had stopped him, gingerly grasping the dragon egg with both her good and bad hands.

  


“He can make it out of this, but the water is too cold for you to jump in too, Ezran,” Rayla comforted as she tried to convince herself that Callum would be able to make it out himself. The ice was very fragile still, but neither she nor Ezran could bring themselves to move to safety, not when Callum had fallen in. They needed to be there for him, but the water was far too freezing for anything as fragile as humans to be able to survive it for long, and she needed to guard the dragon egg, so Rayla forced herself and Ezran to hold back, to stay up on the ice as Callum struggled in the dark depths.

  


Once a minute had passed, Ezran started to hyperventilate, panicking because his big brother hadn’t fought his way back to the surface. Rayla tried to force out words of reassurance, but she just couldn’t do it, not when she couldn’t completely believe them herself. In water as bitterly cold as this, Rayla knew nobody could survive for long, especially not if they stayed submerged… and Callum? Callum wasn’t coming back up.

  


The two lost souls sat on the ice, staring in numb disbelief at the jagged hole left by Callum, at the dark water he had disappeared into. After what could have been a few minutes or much longer, Rayla forced herself to stand up, pressing the dragon egg safely against her chest with her good hand. She gently grabbed onto Ezran’s hand and pulled him to a standing position. The tears hadn’t started falling from either of them yet, as Rayla tried to hold herself together and Ezran failed to function with the panic that had taken residence in him.

  


“Where is he, Rayla? He hasn’t come back up! Callum- Callum can’t be de-, he can’t be gone, right?” Ezran begged, his voice verging on hysterical. His big brother,  he wasn’t gone, he couldn’t be. Callum had just been standing there a few minutes ago, protecting him like he always tried to do, he had been right there… but he had fallen into water that was way too cold, the ice had broken under him and then he was just gone. His brother was gone and he hadn’t come back up- and- andwhyhadn’thecomebackup?!

  


“Ez… Ez, I don’t- I don’t think that he’s going to come- to come back up, Callum has been down there too long,” Rayla choked out, realizing that not even an elf would have made it for long submerged in water that frigid. She feels empty, and she knows that Callum’s death must be her fault, he had wanted to move faster but she just had to start confessing and- and now he was gone and it was  _all her fault_. Rayla didn’t let herself dwell on it all for more than a second, tightening her grip on Ezran’s small, chilled hand and forcing herself to move as the tears started streaming down her face. She and Ezran couldn’t stay there, they needed to move off the (fatally) thin ice, but he resisted for a second.

  


“We can’t just leave him Rayla, he can’t be, he can’t be…” Ezran tried to argue before he let the truth really set in. It was like all the energy and life in him faded as he tried to wrap his mind completely around the fact that he wouldn’t see Callum ever again. Then, all he could do was follow along behind Rayla, gripping her bad hand loosely but not truly registering anything other than that Callum was gone.

  


Rayla and Ezran plodded along, numb inside as they tried not to break down completely. They walked and walked until they reached a cave, where Ezran sat with the egg as Rayla built a fire, neither of them able to start a conversation. Once the fire was built, Ezran soon turned in for the night, wanting to mourn for his brother somewhat privately. He cuddled up with Bait, grasping the glow toad against his chest as he finally let it all out.

  


Callum was gone, yet Ezran just couldn’t imagine life going on without him. Callum had been there for him through thick and thin, always protecting him, comforting him, laughing and enjoying life with him. Always loving him. Even when they fought, Callum never failed to fix things with his sincere apologies and the stupid jerkface dance. The thought of Callum’s silly dance just made Ezran’s tears flow harder, as he knew he’d never get the chance to see it again.

  


When their mother had died, Callum had been there. When they had to flee with the dragon egg, away from their father, Callum had been there, a comforting presence as always. His brother was his best friend, with his dumb jokes and amazing heart and ridiculously good art skills and his joy over learning magic. How could Callum be dead when he’d been so alive, so full of spirit, just that morning? It felt to Ezran as though something had been ripped straight out of his chest, like his heart had fractured into a million pieces just as the ice his big brother had fallen through. What had been the biggest presence in his life was gone, the person he probably loved most in the world was dead, and it all happened in a split second.

  


Oh god, what would Ezran tell their dad, assuming he’d gotten away from the assassins? (The King must have survived, Ezran reasoned. He couldn’t consider any other option.) Their dad would be just as devastated, and Ezran knew he wouldn’t be able to tell him the news without breaking down sobbing, if the tears ever stopped in the first place, anyway. Ez felt that he could continue crying forever, his grief supplying him with an infinite amount of tears, because Callum was _gone,_ and he was never coming back.

  


Rayla’s tears trickled down silently as Ezran sobbed uncontrollably. She couldn’t allow herself to break completely, she didn’t deserve to, not when Callum’s death was entirely her fault. If she had just listened, if she’d just moved faster, Callum wouldn’t have fallen in. The funny human boy who she had nearly killed as he tried to save his brother, the sweet human boy who she had become friends with over this ridiculous journey- he was dead because of her. Callum was dead and it was her fault, and now he’d never get to become a true mage, he’d never see the dragon egg returned to Xadia, and he’d never get to grow up. Callum was dead because of her mistake, and now Ez was all alone in the world, except for her. Her, the elf that was responsible for killing not just his brother, but indirectly his father as well. It was just made worse by the fact that Ezran didn’t even know that his father was dead, and Callum hadn’t either.

  


The guilt and grief seemed to shred Rayla’s heart to pieces until eventually, she was crying almost as much as Ezran. She’d lost a close friend today because she messed up, and it cost one boy his big brother, the last of his family.

  


Once Ezran’s sobbing had faded into sleep, his emotions having drained his energy, Rayla slowly felt her tears ebb. She tried to stay awake to keep watch, feeling like she didn’t deserve to rest, but sorrow is a tiring thing. After a while, she couldn't force her eyes to stay open for any longer and drifted off as well, dragon egg in hand.

  


In the morning, the two would wake up, heartbroken and still feeling as if a hole was torn brutally out of their chests. However, they would also be surprised with beautiful, almost comforting, drawings in frost on the floor that certainly hadn’t been there when they went to sleep, filling them with wonder rather than sadness for a few brief moments.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never really written anything like this before, but I really want to show Ezran and Rayla grieving, so hopefully it wasn't too bad. I did a lot of POV switching in here because I really wanted to include both Ezran and Rayla's perspectives, those poor, precious babies. I'm hoping to also write the next part sometime this week, although I don't have a concrete plan of where the story will go after that. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this story, as well as to everyone who read part one, the positive response I got on it helped spur me to write this part faster. Kudos and comments are very much appreciated, I really do love to hear questions/comments/concerns and such.


End file.
